Gender and Coming of Age in Shakespeare’s As You Like It Essay

Gender and Coming of Age in Shakespeares As You Like It Shakespeare introduces the protagonists of his comedy, As You Like It, as youths mourning the absence seizure of their takes Orlando remarks on the consequences of his fathers death and Rosalind first appears despairing over her fathers exile. He closes the play with the trades union of these youths. The absence of their respective fathers centr all in ally figures into their courtship and preparation for marriage. Even more noticeable is the absence of all mothersnot a single mother or older wife appears in the play. The young women, Rosalind and Celia, enter adulthood, seemingly without any female office models. Such responses impact the development of the young protagonists, causing the two friends, Rosalind and Celia, to be remarkably independent of gender conventions and the constraints of older generations. The absence of elder influences forgets Rosalind and Celia to strain their adult lives, particularly as they fo rge their profess unique approaches towards marriage and realizations of the institution. In the absence of natural fathers, different characters volunteer as successor fathers for Orlando, but not for Rosalind. Without soliciting it, Orlando receives help and guidance from Duke aged and Adam. For example, the ravenous Orlando interrupts Duke Seniors banquet and orders them to stop eating, demanding food for Adam and himself. Duke Senior asks him wherefore he so rudely demands food and then advises Orlando that gentleness shall pull out / More than your force move us to gentleness (2.7.101-102).* Warmly inviting the upset Orlando to his table, the Duke offers him his friendship as he takes Orlando aside to speak privately. Orlando receives such unsolicited help from ... ...ns emotional maturity. Orlando finally achieves social adulthood and Rosalind achieves personal maturity. magic spell the Shakespearean era certainly structured gender voices quite other than from our ow n, many women today find themselves, like Rosalind and Celia, in a forest of men without female role models. Though decrying the lack of female role models has become trendy, it is important to remember that the leadership of the older generation comes with its own constraints. As each generation forges its own identity, perhaps it is the very absence of such role models and the freedom to wear a mans hat or a beggars cloak that allow the most independent expressions of adulthood to emerge. Work Cited*Shakespeare, As You Like It, in The Complete Works of Shakespeare, ed. David Bevington, 4th ed. (New York Longman, Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers, 1997).